Online predator victim: 'I was catfished for 12 years'

by AndrewBackhouse

Andrew Backhouse
Journalist

I love studying history, particularly the Roman Republic, ancient Greece and the First French Empire.
My other interests include jogging, playing chess and watching documentaries.
There’s not a subject I’m not interested in and I love my job.
I’m always available for a chat especially over a wine or coffee.

WHEN Susannah Birch was 15, she started talking to Richard Martin, who she thought was aged 17.

It was the beginning of a relationship that lasted for three years during which he convinced her to send him sexually explicit photos of herself.

She also regularly talked to him on the phone but said his accent made his age hard to identify.

It was only later that she found out he was a 50-year-old man who was impersonating a younger person for his own gratification, often called "catfishing".

They broke up in early 2005 but would remain friends for a further nine years until she found out in 2014 he had been lying about his identity for 12 years, fooling her with pictures of one of his sons.

Now she's warning people to be wary of others online so they don't fall into the same trap.